WHAT A DAY!

My day started this morning when I looked (up) into an upper cabinet in the garage and took down a cake stand for the breakfast sweet rolls (Pillsbury Orange Rolls). The lid from an old ceramic canister boinked me on the head. I didn't see it because I am 5'1" and I can't see that high. How was I to know that there was a lid sitting on the cake stand? I saw stars. Now I have a goose egg on the top of my head, just into the hair line. On it, I put my trusty ice bag of halloween candy corn that I keep in the freezer for just such mishaps. I never did have convulsions or whatever it is that you might get when you get whacked on the head, so that's a good thing. After our breakfast of said sweet rolls, we started doing a few chores. It was time to clean the ceiling fans, for which Sweet Husband has assumed responsibility, and I follow with the Windex and the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum suddenly smelled like it was on fire. It is old, so who knows? We took it out to the studio/garage, and tried to take it apart. Did I mention that it is old? We have a newer one, a bagless monster that I hate, so I still use this one on the main floor of our house because it is lightweight. It is a Hoover upright which I had given my son for his apartment long, long ago; he gave it back because he doesn't do floors. It gets the job done, it is lightweight, and you can still get bags to fit. The belts may be another story. I decided that since it smelled like burned rubber, that probably the belt was what it was.First, we couldn't remember how to change the belt. I went to the bin where the various belts are stored, brought back FOUR different styles, and none of them looked like they might fit. So we brought my laptop out to the garage, googled how to change the belt, and then spent quite a while poking around, trying to figure out how to take the damned thing apart to get to the damned belt. Finally, we found some stuff on UTube or whatever it is, purporting to show how to change the belt on this model, and we eventually got it apart. None of the belts fit. We got out the heavy duty work light, the magnifying glass, and the braille reader (just kidding!) and finally deciphered the numbers on all the belts. Sure enough, none of these were the right ones. So we googled the one that we took out. Nada. Nothing.Then, after a few uneventful hours and I did not have a seizure from the lick on my head, we had some potato soup from Sam's. I may never make potato soup from scratch again, it was that tasty. I did some laundry, wrote a post on my other blog, and thought about supper. Outside, the sky went black, the lightening flashed, the thunder rolled and the rain poured. Unbelievably, we did not lose power or internet. While I folded some laundry, we turned on the news. Four tourists got shot on Bourbon Street last night. Just folks having a good time, I guess, with Mardi Gras being in a couple of days. We had been planning a trip. Sweet Husband said he wasn't going. Drat! Then I cooked a real gourmet feast -- some scallops from Sam's that I had defrosted, then seared in the pan á la Ina, some coleslaw I made yesterday, and God's gift to lazy cooks, tater tots, the kind with onions.While all this was going on, we were watching the news, and lo and behold, a tornado hit Hattiesburg, MS, which the locals pronounce, "Hattas-burg". I hope my old friend Tracy and her hubby and twins are OK!The Grammy's are on, but I don't care. I guess CNN doesn't either, because with all the bad weather, it hasn't been mentioned. Who really cares if Rhianna and Chris Brown are together again? I don't. Having been the victim of domestic violence myself for seven long years (see my other blog for the gory details), I think if she is that damn dumb to go back to him, it is her problem. Leave me out of it.Thank God the tornadoes do not seem headed for us tonight (this time!), and Thank God that Downton Abbey is on in about 15 minutes. I am off to fold that last load of laundry and then, I will be in England. At least in my mind. Scribbler

For heaven's sake, Ellen! Am I going to have to share my bubble with you?!?!??!! I'm glad you're OK! I have one of those vacuums of which you speak that is old as sin but still works well. When anything goes wrong with it, Ramon ends up sitting in a circle of dust cussing the thing. He's always been able to fix it, though. I DVRed the Grammy's so that I could watch Justin Timberlake's performance. I watched that while eating breakfast this morning. Besides the "In Memoriam" piece, that was all I really wanted to watch! I don't recognize probably 75% of the people on there as I'm getting older and less in touch with what they call "music" these days. Oh...there was a tribute to the late Dave Brubeck that I caught a few seconds of. It didn't do justice to Brubeck's original sound, so I slipped on past it. Dave Brubeck...goes to show just how old I am if that's what caught my attention! :-) Four shootings on Bourbon Street? I didn't watch the morning news, so I wasn't aware. I'll turn on CNN to see what they're saying about it or Google it. I DID see, however, that the Pope has decided to throw in the towel. I thought, "Wow! Go to bed early one night and wake up to pandemonium!!!" Potato soup sounds good. I'm on my own for dinner tonight, so maybe that will be on the menu. Ramon gets to eat at a fancy medical convention meeting thing. Our wonderful government has fixed it now so that doctors don't get the same kind of perks as our elected officials can freely enjoy, so wives can no longer attend. Don't get me started. Anyhooooo....glad you're OK and I hope the "Downton Abbey" show was a good one!

Now that's what I call a good post, Scribbler! I saw what your day was like. But sorry that you got a bumped head and lost time trying to fix the vacuum. Those are the kinds of thing that wreck havoc with a plan. My plan for yesterday was to be through with everything and free for the 2 hour Downton Abbey. I didn't even multitask during it. The laptop was put away so it wouldn't tempt me and I turned off the lights and escaped, as you said, to England. Next week season finale? Too short a series.

Now wasn't that lots easier than dragging out all the pretty things for a table setting, and putting them away again! Still, I bet you'll be tempted to occasionally. Whatever, I like visiting here.

I record "Downton Abbey" so that I can enjoy it more than once if I want.Sometimes I can' t take in all those beautiful details at once. Did you notice that silk damask on the stairwell as Matthew was coming down the stairs? I'm going to have withdrawals when this season is over.

Scribbler a/k/a Ellen

I am happily retired, a former decorator, makeup artist, and fashionista! Also -- I am nobody's Grandma! I write, paint, cook and study food. I nearly always have my nose in a book. I hope you will visit often because I love company.

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